Last year, (NOAA) satellites, with
their sophisticated search and rescue technologies, brought 224 people
to safety from dangerous and potentially life-threatening ordeals
– from Alaska to New York State. The figure is a jump from the
171 rescues in 2002. NOAA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Also 2003 saw the debut of the Personal
Locator Beacon (PLBs) in the continental United States. In July, the
406-megahertz digitally encoded, hand-held PLBs were authorized for
nationwide use, after a successful test period in Alaska where more
than 200 lives were saved with the personal devices since 1994. NOAA
officials said PLBs have opened the door to faster, more accurate
search and rescue missions, particularly for people who recreate in
rugged, remote areas, where typical means of communication do not
exist.

NOAA’s satellites, along with Russia’s
Cospas satellites, are part of an elaborate, international Search
and Rescue Satellite-Aided Tracking System, called COSPAS-SARSAT.
The system uses a cluster of satellites in geostationary and polar
orbits to detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons
onboard aircraft and boats, and from PLBs.

“NOAA and its SARSAT partner agencies
are committed to combining advanced technologies to make worldwide
search and rescue the best it can be,” said retired Navy Vice
Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., undersecretary of commerce
for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “The COSPAS-SARSAT
system is designed to save lives, and it did that hundreds of times
last year.”

Since the system became operational in
1982, almost 17,000 lives have been saved worldwide with the assistance
of COSPAS-SARSAT, including more than 4,600 lives in the United States.

All emergency beacon owners in the United
States are required to register their units with NOAA. Last year,
NOAA’s SARSAT Program Office unveiled a Web-based system that
allows for faster and more up-to-date registrations to be handled
over the Internet. The National Beacon Registration Database provides
a convenient and secure way for beacon owners to provide their name,
phone numbers and other critical information without having to mail
or fax it. The system also allows the beacon owner to revise their
registration information as it changes over time.

“Registration is not only required
by law, but it is perhaps one of the most important responsibilities
to owning an emergency distress beacon,” said Ajay Mehta, NOAA’s
SARSAT Program Manager. “Without this critical information,
the search and rescue centers cannot respond to a potential distress
as quickly. That delay may be the difference between life and death.”

NOAA’s Satellites and Information
Service, which operates the SARSAT U.S. Mission Control Center in
Suitland, Md., represents the United States in the international arena,
providing the satellites, ground stations and a mission control center.

NOAA’s Satellite and Information
Service is the nation’s primary source of space-based meteorological
and climate data. It operates the nation’s environmental satellites,
which are used for weather and ocean observation, forecasting and
climate monitoring. It also monitors sea-surface temperatures, the
ozone, and wildfires. The agency operates three data centers, which
house global databases in climatology, oceanography, solid Earth geophysics,
marine geology and geophysics, solar-terrestrial physics and paleoclimatology.

NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic
security and national safety through the prediction and research of
weather and climate-related events and providing environmental stewardship
of the nation’s coastal and marine resources.